The jade pendant was pure white and flawless, warm and smooth to the touch, clearly of excellent quality.
The sachet was exquisitely embroidered. With fine silk threads, vivid osmanthus trees and flowers were embroidered on it, carrying the auspicious meaning of "winning in the imperial examinations".
Seeing these two items, Song Yihuan heaved a deep sigh.
Life in the Marquis Mansion was hard. As a concubine - born daughter, Song Yihuan only received three taels of silver as her monthly allowance. Even if she spent it all on buying medicine for her younger brother with heart disease, it was far from enough.
To make a living for the siblings, besides selling some of her embroidery works on weekdays, Song Yihuan also worked as a copyist for several bookstores, earning some silver by copying books.
Half a year ago, when she went to a bookstore to deliver the books she had transcribed, she accidentally met a scholar from Yunzhou there.
His surname was Gu, named Gu Yunzheng. He was the eldest legitimate son of the main branch of the prestigious Gu family in Yunzhou. He was a student of Grand Scholar Qi and a student in the Imperial College. He was also a candidate in this imperial examination.
Song Yihuan found that Gu Yunzheng's calligraphy was extremely good, bold and powerful, very similar to that of an old acquaintance she had known before.
She thought Gu Yunzheng was the old friend she had been looking for for a long time, but after some probing, she found that she had made a mistake.
She intended to draw a clear line with Gu Yunzheng, but unexpectedly, Gu Yunzheng confessed his feelings to her and solemnly handed the fish - shaped jade pendant to her.
He said that it was a family - heirloom jade of his family, usually only passed on to the eldest daughter - in - law.
He also promised her that he would go all out in this imperial examination to win a top - three place and enter the palace examination. No matter how he performed in the palace examination, he would go to the Ding'an Marquis Mansion to ask for her hand in marriage after this imperial examination.
Song Yihuan was only half a year younger than her elder sister Song Nanxin. At that time, her elder sister had already gotten married, and Song Yihuan had reached the age of marriage. The Marquis Mansion was also arranging a match for her.
She accidentally learned that her step - mother intended to send her to be a concubine for a man who was fond of gambling and drinking. There were already seven concubines in that man's backyard.
If she married him, not to mention how hard her life would be, if she left Song Yixuan alone in the Marquis Mansion, with his heart disease, he probably wouldn't live long.
Although the Gu family was a prestigious family in Yunzhou, it was still far inferior to the Marquis Mansion. It was more than enough for a concubine - born daughter of the Marquis Mansion like Song Yihuan to marry Gu Yunzheng as his wife.
After some weighing, she finally accepted the jade pendant and agreed to Gu Yunzheng.
She admitted that she was a bit despicable. In order to get rid of the Marquis Mansion and the fate of being a concubine, she took advantage of this pure - hearted scholar just for the position of the main wife of the main branch of the Gu family in Yunzhou.
But this was the best way she could think of to get out of the predicament.
She thought that with Gu Yunzheng's ability, he would surely achieve good results in this imperial examination and obtain an official position. In order to win over this newly - promoted court official, the Ding'an Marquis would not reject this marriage.
Song Yihuan knew that she didn't have any feelings for Gu Yunzheng. She originally thought that after marrying him, she would be a good wife, manage the household affairs for him, and repay his kindness for saving her from the bitter sea.
For this reason, she specially spent some effort embroidering a sachet for him, planning to give it to him after the list of successful candidates in the imperial examination was announced.
But all this was completely ruined in that night of absurdity.
After coming to the Prince Ning's Mansion with her elder sister, Song Yihuan also intended to use the power of the Prince Ning's Mansion to avoid the fate of being married as a concubine by her step - mother. She just waited for the list of the new imperial examination candidates to be announced and for Gu Yunzheng to go to the Marquis Mansion to propose marriage so that she could get out of the bitter sea.
Who would have thought that from the Marquis Mansion to the Prince Ning's Mansion, it was just from one cage to another.
Now, she was no longer qualified to be anyone's wife, nor did she want to delay a promising man.
Just now in the Guanyin Temple, she made three wishes to the Bodhisattva. The first one was that Gu Yunzheng, the young man from the Gu family in Yunzhou, would be on the list in this imperial examination, win the imperial examination, and truly find a good marriage, so as to ease her guilt;
The second one was that her younger brother Song Yixuan would grow up safely and live a long life;
The third one was to conceive Ji Lingchuan's child soon and successfully leave the capital with her younger brother after giving birth to the child and disappear from the world.
Putting away the jade pendant, Song Yihuan picked up the sachet. Avoiding the two maids, Chunxing and Fuling, she threw the sachet into the charcoal fire for boiling medicine.
The tongue of fire devoured the sachet she had embroidered for a long time completely, leaving no trace. Song Yihuan left without looking back. There was no trace of regret in her eyes, only relief.
As for the jade pendant, she should also find an opportunity to return it to him.
...
Since returning from the Guanyin Temple, Song Nanxin had been thinking about getting closer to Ji Lingchuan.
She thought that the reason why Ji Lingchuan always suspected her was that they had only met a few times. They were still a bit strange to each other, and he didn't have any trust in her, so she was in a passive position.
The next day, Song Nanxin sent someone to inquire about Ji Lingchuan's whereabouts. When he was about to return to the mansion, she specially changed her clothes, dug out some of the perfume paste and applied it behind her ears and on her wrists. Then she led her entourage to the Jingtao Courtyard.
As soon as Song Nanxin entered the Jingtao Courtyard, she headed straight for the study. Seeing this, the servants in the Jingtao Courtyard quickly stepped forward to stop her:
"Princess Consort, the Prince is not here now. If you're looking for the Prince, you may have come at the wrong time."
Song Nanxin gave him a cold look and said proudly, "I'm the Princess Consort married through proper rituals. Can't I enter the Prince's courtyard?"
"This..." The attendant was in a dilemma.
Song Nanxin raised her lips and smiled. "In this Prince's Mansion, I'm more qualified than anyone else to enter the Prince's courtyard. Besides, I just want to fulfill my duty as a wife and tidy up the Prince's study. Can't I even do this?"
Pressuring them with her status, the attendant had no way to argue and could only watch helplessly as she pushed open the door and entered Ji Lingchuan's study.
Different from what Song Nanxin had expected, Ji Lingchuan's study was very simple and clean. There were no extra porcelain vases or jade ornaments on the shelves, only full bookshelves.
The books were neatly arranged. She reached out and wiped the shelf, but there was not a speck of dust. This left her at a loss.
But she didn't really come here to clean today. She pretended to take down the books and put them back on the shelves, showing an industrious and virtuous appearance, waiting for Ji Lingchuan's return.
At the sixth quarter of the si - hour, Ji Lingchuan returned to the Prince Ning's Mansion.
As soon as he dismounted, his attendant Fuxing in the courtyard greeted him and told him about Song Nanxin's intrusion into the Jingtao Courtyard.
Learning that Song Nanxin had entered his study, Ji Lingchuan's face tightened, and he quickened his steps.
When he returned to the Jingtao Courtyard and entered the study, he saw Song Nanxin holding a familiar black wooden box and wiping it. Her finger was on the lock, as if she was about to open it.
That black wooden box was placed on the top layer of the shelf by Ji Lingchuan, and he never allowed anyone to touch it.
Noticing that Song Nanxin intended to open the box, Ji Lingchuan's face changed suddenly. He strode forward, snatched the wooden box, and threw her aside:
"Who allowed you to enter my study and mess with my things?!"